A Few Books for a Gentler Path Into 2025
How are you entering this new year? Are you weary, anxious, worried? Are you curious or open? Are you focused and determined?
We woke up this morning to a layer of white covering the trees and the ground and a fine snow falling. School was canceled, our little people slept in, and I started the wood stove, which is now roaring downstairs. The kids headed out to sled and will soon be back inside, cheeks rosy, stomping snow from their boots, asking for hot chocolate. It’s one of those days, the kind that mark it hard to get any work done, the kind made for racing down snowy slopes and getting snow down your back.
We rang in the New Year (already a week ago) with some dear friends from college, friends of over 25 years, and we talked about what this new year might bring. We used to take Christmas trips to New York, all four of us broke, and just wander around the city maybe buying a coffee or soft pretzel. Now we spend the holidays with our combined nine children and businesses and dreams and long-ago (and sometimes recent) disappointments. The four of us have been through a lot in this lifetime, both together and separate, and we have no illusions of things working out perfectly. Instead, there is an anticipation, a wonderment, a curiosity about 2025.
So, in honor of that mode of entering a new year—curious, cautiously optimistic, and with a desire of being kind with ourselves and others—here are a few books that will provide you with a gentler entrance into all that this new year may hold.
For the person wanting to learn more about the power of love during these times of deep division . . . Cherished Belonging by Gregory Boyle
Gregory Boyd is one of the most fascinating people to me, having started Homeboy Ministries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world.
“Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed tens of thousands of lives through his work…The program runs on two unwavering principles: 1) We are all unshakably good (no exceptions), and 2) we belong to each other (no exceptions).
Boyle believes that these two ideas allow all of us to cultivate a new way of seeing. Rather than the tribalism that excludes and punishes, this new narrative proposes a village that cherishes. Pooka, a former gang member who now oversees the program’s housing division, puts it plainly: “Here, love is our lens. It is how we see things.”
I can’t think of a message that’s more needed in the world today.
In praise of his previous book, Tattoos on the Heart: "An astonishing book . . . about suffering and dignity, death and resurrection, one of my favorite books in years. It is lovely and tough and tender beyond my ability to describe and left me in tears of both sorrow and laughter." —Anne Lamott, author of Grace (Eventually)
For the person looking for a beautiful, wintry, meandering novel to crawl into . . . Time of the Child by Niall Williams
Goodness. I don’t know if I remember a novel as beautifully written as this one . . . unless it’s This is Happiness, also by Niall Williams. Time of the Child is a rich, moving novel about the Irish village of Faha and what happens when they find a child in their midst.
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love - and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.
But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.
For the person wanting to move out of survival mode and into a life of connection and joy . . . Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
There’s a local non-profit in Lancaster that is constantly buying copies of this book to give away. I know the work that they do, that it’s good, and I love that they are using this book as a way of encouraging that work.
In the wise and soulful tradition of teachers like Shauna Niequist and Brene Brown, therapist Aundi Kolber debuts with Try Softer helping us align our mind, body, and soul to live the life God created for us.
In a world that preaches a "try harder" gospel―just keep going, keep hustling, keep pretending we're all fine―we're left exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, and numb to our lives. If we're honest, we've been overfunctioning and hurtling toward burnout for so long, we can't even imagine another way. How else will things get done? How else will we survive?
It doesn't have to be this way.
For the person wanting to live an undivided life . . . A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer
This has been my morning read for the last few weeks, the book I read for ten minutes or so before journaling and then starting my day. And it has been such a beautiful encouragement, not only for my own life but also for how to encourage my kids as they go about trying to figure out what their space in the world might be.
So much of parenting becomes rule-making and rule-enforcing, and while those things can be important, what’s often missing is an encouragement into positive behavior that will help us all find our way, our identity, and our mission in the world.
A Hidden Wholeness has given me a new lens for these things.
For the creative person looking for encouragement and a new way of thinking about creativity . . . The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
This was one of my favorite books of the year, and also one of our bestsellers in the store. It’s sort of like a gentle reflection and encouragement to return to the creative life. I’ve taken away so many things from this book into my own writing life that have allowed me to be more patient, confident, and trusting of my own voice and work.
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable.
If you’ve never heard any of Rick Rubin’s talks, hop on YouTube and do a quick search. One of my favorites is when he talks about his concept that “the audience comes last.”
Two great ways to buy these books!
Email us at hello@nooks.gallery with the titles you’d like and we’ll get them in the mail and send you a digital invoice
Click the links provided with each book, or head here to see all the books from this post, and order them through Bookshop.org—when you order there, through our store, we receive a generous portion of the sale. This link will also take you to all of our previous recommendations and book lists.
Finally, some wonderful events coming up at Nooks!
A Conversation with Author and Editor
!An Evening With Author and Soul Care Mentor
!Story Time With Children’s Book Author Jonathan Stutzman and Illustrator Heather Fox!
Plan Your Spring Garden With Author and Gardener Extraordinaire
!
Head to our events page for more details on all of our events!
I just love the idea of a "Gentler Path" into...well anything. But especially 2025! Thank you!
I didn't know there was a new Gregory Boyle book -- I just went to our library website and mashed the "reserve" button so hard. :-)
I read Time of the Child just before Christmas and loved it so much. Williams is such a beautiful, patient, trustworthy storyteller. You just know he is taking you somewhere wonderful, and you sit back and enjoy the slow, meandering ride. A delightful book.